Doctor who?

By Meghan Murphy-Gill|Print |Share

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Nerds like me have images like this as their computer wallpaper.

I recently read an article on Cracked.com titled, How Doctor Who became my Religion[1]. When I first came across it, I half expected to be treated to an internet term paper on how the Doctor is a metaphor for society’s desire for a Messiah. Nope. Instead, using humor and remarkable theological insight, the author[2] (who goes by the name Gladstone) meanders through a personal three-part analysis as he attempts to understand why this beloved space adventure show has the ability to make him cry.

The messages he gleans from Doctor Who[3]: We are not alone against evil, God needs us, and God is fallible. Now, of course, classical theology would completely disagree with Gladstone on those last two insights. But staying out of the realm of Christian theology and just in the world where a mysterious Time Lord from Gallifrey travels space and time in a police call box known as the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space),[4] Gladstone is on point as to why the show, even with all the camp and nerdiness, is moving. Few shows speak with such honesty and hope about the nature of humanity. Even fewer paint their hero as someone whose both a savior of the universe and someone you want to be close friends with. Gladstone writes:

“People sing songs about having a friend in Jesus, but this is a friendship that's much easier to understand. And not just because the Doctor is flesh and blood. He's a savior who loves us and needs us like the best of friends do. That he can bend time and space to save all of Earth from a Sycorax invasion is just gravy.”

Some more insights from the article worth pointing out:

“The show makes us realize that even with a semi-immortal Time Lord on your side you can lose. That we are struck by tragedy does not mean that there is no sense or purpose to life. It doesn't mean we are alone.”

………………..

“Imagine, for a moment that there is a real God. How many of His storylines have we not been exposed to? That god must have been broadcasting on channels we don't get for millennia. It would take a lifetime longer than the Doctor's to fully understand such a god.”

………………..

“There is the possibility of a god who roots for us, loves us, and grieves for us just like the Doctor. And a god who has saved us so many times and in so many ways we've never known.”